Ottawa, June 24 (IANS) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has denied meddling in an investigation into the 2020 mass shooting, the worst the country's history.
Brenda Lucki, head of the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), has been accused of pressuring local officers to help advance Trudeau's gun control plans, the BBC quoted the Halifax Examiner as saying, which was the first to report on the development.
According to the Halifax Examiner, the accusation stemmed from notes made by a local RCMP officer, released as part of a public investigation into the mass shooting on April 18-19, 2020, during which a gunman posing as a police officer killed 22 people in Nova Scotia.
The suspect died in a stand-off with police.
Addressing reporters on Thursday, Trudeau said that his government "did not put any undo influence or pressure" on police.
"It is extremely important to highlight that it is only the RCMP, it is only police that determine what and when to release information," the BBC quoted the Prime Minister as saying.
Denying the accusations, Commissioner Lucki said in a statement released on Tuesday that information sharing between the federal government and police is normal during a high-profile event such as a mass shooting.
The RCMP chief however acknowledged that she "should have been more sensitive" in her approach.
Canada's opposition Conservative Party has called for a debate in the House of Commons, and a parliamentary committee voted on Thursday to hold a hearing into the matter.
In the wake of the deadliest rampage in Canadian history, Prime Minister Trudeau in May 2020 announced an immediate ban on the sale, transportation, importation, or use of some 1,500 makes and models of "military-grade assault-style" weapons.
A series of strong storms will clash with cold Arctic air throughout B.C. during the holidays, according to Environment and Climate Change Canada. Periods of heavy and blowing snow, freezing rain and very cold weather are likely in many parts of B.C. between now and New Year’s Day.
The Canadian Armed Forces is facing fresh calls to create an “explicit exception” for victims of sexual misconduct and their confidantes from having to report incidents to their commanders.
Environment Minister Steven Guilbeault published draft regulations Tuesday outlining how Canada will ban the manufacture, sale and import of these items, along with plastic cutlery, stir sticks, straws and six-pack rings, by the end of next year.
The federal Liberals have put the White House on notice that Canada will officially challenge the legality of an American decision to hike duties on softwood lumber heading south of the border. The government is filing the grievance under the recently renewed North American free trade pact.
Canada’s housing minister says the federal government plans to take a tougher stand on investment properties to help cool housing prices. The broad strokes of the agenda were outlined in the mandate letter the prime minister gave to Housing Minister Ahmed Hussen.
British Columbia's "hobbled" supply chains received a major boost with the reopening of the primary transport route for goods heading to and from Metro Vancouver, a spokesman for the trucking industry said. The Coquihalla Highway between Hope and Merritt reopened ahead of schedule Monday to commercial traffic and intercity buses.
